Living Out of Your Identity in Christ

Tag: VIP

One of the best parts about going on a mission trip is coming back with memories you’ll never forget. From then on, the mention of a certain word or phrase can spark a terrific memory. At the start of a week-long mission teen trip last year, the youth pastor challenged everyone to claim this truth:… Continue reading God is Enough.

But one point Beth vehemently makes in the Introduction to her book Praying God’s Word is this: “God is far more interested in our relationship with the Deliverer than our being delivered.” That struck me as odd: doesn’t God call His people to repentance and offer deliverance all throughout the Bible? Yes, He sure does. He tells them to return to Him, and He will be their God and they will be His people. He will heal them and forgive them because He loves them. God delivers people so that they can be wholly devoted to Him. He heard the cries of the Israelites and brought them out of slavery, and He immediately began to form them into being people of God – people who are holy and like Him. The three young men thrown into the fiery furnace in Babylon spoke with boldness and were delivered.

God brought about deliverance throughout the Bible.
But sometimes He didn’t.

You guys: if we are to live as more than conquerors, we have got to learn how to pray the Word. Jesus did this while Satan tempted Him in Matthew 4. Recalling those Scriptures to mind takes your mind far above your troubles. No, it doesn’t “fix” things to recite memory verses back to God.

Have you ever turned on a faucet that hasn’t been on and working for a long time? When the water pressure in the pipes builds up enough to push through that faucet, stuff will start spewing out. Stuff – not clean water. Trust me: you don’t want to drink that yet! So what do you do?

We have come up against a culture that teaches you can have it all: you can go to church and feel good about yourself, listen to any music you want, hang out with anyone you want, put whatever you want in your body, and no one can tell you not to. You’ll be ok!

“Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them He said: ‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Suppose… Continue reading A Sneaky Idolatry

Recent Posts: VALUE IN PURITY CONFERENCES

Let me give you a little behind-the-curtain peek into The Pure Life Conference this weekend. As with any event, this conference started long before this weekend. And if you need a soundtrack to read by, I recommend “God is Working” by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. This has been my theme song for the past week. […]

One of the best parts about going on a mission trip is coming back with memories you’ll never forget. From then on, the mention of a certain word or phrase can spark a terrific memory. At the start of a week-long mission teen trip last year, the youth pastor challenged everyone to claim this truth: […]

But one point Beth vehemently makes in the Introduction to her book Praying God’s Word is this: “God is far more interested in our relationship with the Deliverer than our being delivered.” That struck me as odd: doesn’t God call His people to repentance and offer deliverance all throughout the Bible? Yes, He sure does. He tells them to return to Him, and He will be their God and they will be His people. He will heal them and forgive them because He loves them. God delivers people so that they can be wholly devoted to Him. He heard the cries of the Israelites and brought them out of slavery, and He immediately began to form them into being people of God – people who are holy and like Him. The three young men thrown into the fiery furnace in Babylon spoke with boldness and were delivered.

God brought about deliverance throughout the Bible.
But sometimes He didn’t.